The Nerd Next Door: Fall Season
by Rivers of Angelic Roses
Summary: The not-so long awaited sequel of The Nerd Next Door, as you can see from the title. Charlie McDonnell and I are now a couple, but once again, the cogs of unfortunate luck keep turning in our direction.
1. Beginning of the End

**WHOA! HOLD IT! **You're reading a sequel! Go back to The Nerd Next Door on my profile so you can catch up to all the latest news. If you clicked on this just because you saw Charlie's name in it, I totally get it. I do that almost ALL the time.

And if you've already read the prequel, welcome! I'm back! This sequel is going to have a lot more action and a lot more romance. And many funny parts if I can think of them. Enjoy!

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><p>He said we'd make it work. He promised. He told me that he loved me. He promised me that even if he was a million miles away, we'd still make it work. Even if he was in a new house instead of the flat, he said that we'd make it work.<p>

So what am I doing on the side of the road, in the rain with tears streaming down my face?

And why did I ever trust a man with a God-like complex?

**Four months ago...**

I smiled at him. How much I loved him. I mean, how could I not? I'm Amanda Kingsley, his girlfriend. Charlie was my boyfriend, and I didn't know how I could even begin to fathom how this happened. Only weeks ago, did I meet him. Only weeks ago, did I fall in love with him. And here we were now, at his house, with him serving me a home-cooked meal that he made. And it was my favorite food, chicken fetticuini. He pulled out a chair for me and pushed me in. How gentleman of him.

"Thank you, Charlie. For everything." He only smiled and winked at me. He sat down as I took a forkful of the noodles in my mouth. Sauce splattered and landed on my cheek.

"Oh, looks like you've got something right-" He took a napkin and dabbed my face. "There." I blushed again. Luckily, Alex wasn't at home as of yet. He was out doing to 'errands' as he so dubbed it. Of course, he was probably staying out of the way for Charlie and me. I found it touching, and I made a mental note to thank him later with something that's worthwhile.

"Charlie, I don't know how I can ever thank you for all of this." With a sheepish grin, he continued eating. I didn't even know how he figured out that I loved chicken fetticuini with broccholi in it. It isn't the same without the veggies! "How did you know that I like this?"

"Well, you're always wanting to go to that cafe` down the street, and when we do, you always order chicken fetticuini. With extra broccholi." He replied, munching on a piece of broccholi. I didn't know how he managed to make everything so cute.

For the past few weeks, we've been going out on several dates and just hanging out in general. My instruments finally came in through the mail. These musical items consisted of a violin, guitar, flute, stylophone, melodica, electronic keyboard, and my personal favorite, my ukelele. I only learned about half of them on Charlie's sake. And with those instruments, I've been composing a song just for Charlie.

The music part of it was three quarters of the way complete, and the lyrics were barely done. I'd only scratched the surface of it. I'm getting off track here. The main thing, is that I'll be starting school in a few months.

College. School. Professors. Why can't Charlie be my professor? I munched on a piece of chicken absent-mindedly. How was I going to make it through the school year? I slurped a noodle. I'll have to be going back and forth through my flat, Charlie's house, and school. Not only that, I might not even have time to watch Doctor Who! Unacceptable! I stabbed my fork through an unfortunate veggie. And Jake...I haven't heard from him or bothered calling since my hospital trip.

What was he doing? Was he okay? Or was he kissing another girl out there? I honestly didn't care as long as he was okay. I mean, he was my best friend. And he still could be.

"Are you okay, Amanda?" He asked suddenly, snapping me out of my thoughts.

"Perfectly fine." Charlie gave me a look. "Okay, I was just thinking about school." The look. Again. "Fine, I was thinking about Jake." This got him jealous. A cringe and a dark shadow made its way onto his face. "Charlie, I'm just worried. It's been weeks since I've spoken to him." The shadow stayed there though.

"And I didn't think that he needs your voice to be okay." Charlie said bitterly.

"For all I know, he might be on the verge of suicide." I tried. The jealousy didn't fade from him.

"Good, then he might learn how to feel." This was a somewhat completely new side of Charlie I'd never seen before. The last time I had seen him like that was when Alex had brought home some liquor, and was clearly drunk. Not only that, I was there, and had been forced to chug down half a glass before Charlie had come and saved me.

**Flashback**

Late Friday nights always were boring for me. I'd never been much of a socialite anyway, so I didn't really bother. Charlie invited me over, and a few days ago, he had given me a house key, which was why I was sitting in his living room, waiting for him to get back from grocery shopping. I heard knocking on the door. Sighing, I stood up and opened it.

Alex stumbled in, reeking of alchohol. I don't think that I'd ever seen him this drunk. Or drunk at all for the matter. I thought Charlie had said that he didn't like drinking.

"Alex?" I asked stupified. Not like the Harry Potter thing. I wasn't disarmed.

"Yeah, that's me." He slurred, leaning on a counter, bottle in hand.

"Where the hell have you been?" Not that I should ask, but it was nicer to ask than to leave it alone. Besides he'd have a killer hangover in the morning. That wasn't my problem.

"Out." He said, grabbing the counter for support. "My friend had a bachaelor party." He nearly tripped over his own feet trying to drink more liquor.

"Okay, let's get you into bed before you start doing anything crazy." I walked towards him and slung his arm over my shoulder before leading him towards the stairs. He stopped and grabbed me by the shoulders, and pinned me to the wall. I winced. "Alex, what are you doing?" I asked. He had his arms on either side of my face, keeping me trapped.

"Already have." He said in response to my earlier statement. I was honestly scared.

"Alex, just let me go, please." I said, trembling. I hoped to dear god that he wasn't a violent drunk.

"Only if you comply."

"To what?" He unscrewed the cap to the liquor so easily, I almost thought that he wasn't drunk for a few seconds.

"To this." He jammed the bottle into my mouth, making it clink against my gums painfully, and forced me to swallow the bitter drink. Tears were streaming down my face because one, it was bitter and went down my throat with a burning intensity, and two, I felt like I was drowning, because I couldn't gasp for air. I tried grabbing his wrists to force the bottle away, but he was a lot stronger than me.

I felt myself sinking to the floor, darkness was creeping into my vision. My hands dropped to my sides. I heard a loud smash as if something had broken.

"Amanda!" I heard Charlie call out. Suddenly the bottle was removed from my lips and I gasped for air. My eyes glanced over to the side where Charlie was yelling at Alex. My ears weren't working properly, and the only thing I heard was, "We'll talk about it in the morning, get to your room. Now." I felt Charlie wrap his arms around my waist. "Amanda, Amanda, can you hear me?" I mumbled. He picked me up and placed me on his bed. Which I know, because that's where I found myself the next morning with a killer hangover.

Charlie filled me in on a few blanks. I had started acting agressively sexual, and he had to give me a 'few' kisses goodnight before I finally drifted to sleep.

**Flashback End**

"Okay, fine. End of discussion. What do you want to do now?" I had already finished eating and placed the plates in the sink. Charlie lead me into his bedroom to watch Doctor Who. Saturday nights are Whovian nights for us. This week was 'The God Complex'.

It was all so normal. But, I really didn't think that there would be someone to throw a wrench in our plans.


	2. College Years

I woke up, dreading this day. School was coming back to slap me across the face, and there are only two words that I could use to describe it. It sucks. I can't believe that I was already heading off to school. College to be specific. Charlie was going to lead me up the the front gates of the school. I felt like I was back in seventh grade again. Damn.

I showered and changed into some casual clothing. Which was a maroon coloured-turtleneck with a pink scarf. Next to that was just a loose-fitting pair of jeans and sneakers. I combed out my hair and tied it into a half ponytail. I grabbed my keys and my iPhone and started listening to a few fitting songs that could describe me at the moment.

"Wake up tired Monday mornings suck. Way too early to catch a bus. Why conform without a fuss? Daddy, Daddy, no! I don't wanna go to school!" I sang, dancing a bit. "I don't need to read Billy Shakespeare. Meet Juliet or Mavolio, feel for once what it's like to rebel now. I wanna break out, let's go!" I jogged down the stairs and nearly tripped again.

I got to the chorus and started belting it out, "I don't need to read Billy Shakespeare. Meet Juliet or Mavolio, feel for-" I stopped seeing Charlie and placed the MP3 player behind my back. "Hi?" I asked. He just laughed and grabbed my hand, pulling me in for a kiss. "Okay, so I'm not looking forward to school, but I am looking forward to someone once I get home." I winked at Charlie.

"Alright, enough of that, let's go." Charlie opened the door for me as we slid into the cab. We spent the fifteen minute drive to the university talking, holding hands, and more talking. Once we got there, I stepped out of the cab and felt puny.

The college was huge! Compared to it, I was just a tiny ant! I gulped visibly.

"You know, I think that I'm starting to reconsider my choice here." I said. Charlie placed a hand on my shoulder.

"You'll be perfectly fine." He said. "Hopefully." I punched him in the shoulder. Lightly. I think. "I'll be having a band practice today, you're free to join if you know the lyrics." Charlie said. I smiled.

"You know it." I winked. "One more thing before I go," I wrapped my arms around his neck and touched his forehead with mine. "This." I kissed him on the lips. It was a full blown make-out session. Though that was interrupted when-

"Excuse me," Someone said. I turned around to see a blonde haired girl. That was when she punched me in the nose.

"Ow!" I yelled, grabbing my nose. A steady stream of blood was flowing through my fingers. "What the hell was that?" She crackled her knuckles. I immediately didn't like this chick. If she was one in the first place.

"That," She paused for effect. "Was punishment." Charlie pushed me aside and had me hide behind him.

"Punishment," He started. I knew that he was about to go into rage mode. I grabbed his shoulder and had him facing me before I shook my head.

"I'll handle this." I said with a nasally voice from holding my nose. "Look, um, I don't know who you are, but I don't think that it's normal to punch a nearly twenty-year old in the face for kissing her boyfriend." She sneered at me with disgust.

"You?" She asked with disbelief, and even that seemed fake. "How can some loser like you end up with him?" Uh-oh. She was a fangirl, and a very enthusiastic fangirl at that.

"Chance?" I suggested. Though, she continued talking as if I wasn't there.

"Charlie, why don't you come have a cup of tea with me, and I'll make it worthwhile." She said in his ear, though I heard her otherwise. He backed away from her.

"I-I'm sorry, but I have no idea who you are, and you just punched my girlfriend in the face." Charlie replied. "So, that's a no." She blanched in horror and looked at me with the intensity of a thousand suns. God, there was something wrong with this girl. Severely wrong.

"H-How!" She asked. I shrugged. "I-I'll be back, y-you'll see!" She walked off in her high heels, which if I must point out, was a hot pink. I blinked. What the hell was that?

"Here, let me have a look." He made me release my hands from my nose, and the blood dripped onto my white sneakers, staining them red. My throat tasted like iron, which I hated.

"Does this count as a stay-at-home kind of thing?" I asked hopefully. He shook his head.

"No, it counts as a we'll-fix-this-up kind of thing." He quipped. He was taking off his jacket when I stopped him midway.

"You are not going to make me use your jacket as a tissue." I said. "Just let me get to the restroom, and I'll fix this up." He nodded reluctantly. I was just as worried as he was about my new enemies.

"Okay, fine." He leaned to kiss me in the lips, but paused and kissed me on the forehead instead. "I'll see you later." Charlie got back in the cab and drove off. I turned around as faced the school before taking a deep breath and walking towards the gates.

Suddenly, I felt like I was in highschool all over again.


	3. Shocking News

My nose had stopped bleeding by the time I got to my first class, though there was a mess of blood on my shoes as if I had been trodding through a puddle of it. No one asked me about it though. The hallways were like a maze. Massive and confusing. I nearly got lost had it not been for the generous fellow who pointed me in the right direction after I had turned down the same hallway about five times.

"Hey, um...are you lost?" He looked shy, if the yellow sweater vest, thick glasses, braces, sneakers, and tacky tie didn't say enough about him. And his shaggy hair reminding me of Liam. Though, he seemed nice enough. Embarrassed, but lost, I said yes.

"Yeah, I-I don't know about this place. The hallways are huge!" He laughed slightly.

"So, what are your classes? I can point you in the right direction." He then added, "If that's what you want." I nodded cheerily. The first day, though starting badly was now getting better.

"I have Westby for History in room thirty-five." I seriously felt like I was in high-school all over again. He leaned against a wall and paused to think, hand on his chin and everything.

"Oh, I think that you take a left, then go up the staircase and take a-" He stretched it out as if trying to remember. Which, he was, I guess. "Right. Yeah, you take a right." He nodded, confirming himself. I made that a mental note.

"Well, thank you, uh..." I realized that I hadn't even asked his name yet. "Sorry, what's your name?" He fiddled with his fingers, and looked up, seemingas flustered as I was.

"Oh, my name is-my name is Josh. Josh Radnor." He said sticking out a hand. I shook it.

"Well, thank you, Josh Radnor. My name is Amanda Kingsley." I let go of his hand. "I guess I'll be seeing you around then, huh?" Josh nodded. I waved goodbye to him and followed his directions. Soon, I found myself at my history class.

The classroom, like everything else at this school, was huge. There were rows of desks and a large space near the bottom for the professor to lecture us and stuff. I felt like I was at the Colleseum. I found myself a desk in the middle of the room and plopped myself down in the seat. Class was about to start soon. At least in five minutes.

As I sat down, I shot a glance at the professor. A mop of shaggy blonde hair and broad shoulders. I couldn't help but wonder if I had seen him somewhere before. The bell rang and pulled me out of my thoughts. I was flipping through my history book when the professor turned around.

"Hello, class. And good morning." My eyes were decieving me.

Mr. Westby. Jake Westby. All over again. And his eyes locked with mine. Directly.

I couldn't help but drop my history book as he dropped his Expo marker onto the floor.


	4. What Went Wrong?

Jake. This was the same Jake that I hadn't seen for months. This was the Jake that I saved. This was the Jake that came from America to tell me that he loved me and then went back in shame. And now,_ this _Jake is back. I quickly gathered my things and let loose my hair so it could cover my face. Jake couldn't see me! Not after that incident! I stood up with my books and started walking down the aisle.

"Um, miss," He called towards me, but I throughly ignored him. "Miss," He asked again. "Class hasn't started yet, so if you could please take a seat-" I ignored him again, making my way to the front door. Did it ever occur to him that I was just a random girl who went into the wrong classroom and was trying to make her way to the right one? Or better yet, get off the campus?

Suddenly, my books went flying out of my hands. And I tumbled to the floor in a heap.

"Oops, sorry." A mischeivious voice said in that 'I-didn't-mean-to-do-that-but-I-just-totally-did' kind of voice. I bit my lip, holding back my anger. I gathered up my books. "Wrong class?" She asked in that hideous voice of hers. I decided to ignore her and Jake. She kicked me in the back with those pompous high heels, sending my books flying again. I winced in pain.

"I may be the wrong person to tell you this, but dude, this isn't high school anymore. There aren't popularity points, there aren't cheerleading squads, this is college." I growled, standing up. "So, why don't I try this for a size?" She didn't have a chance to duck the uppercut I gave her. Her head snapped back, but not breaking her neck, and she fell onto the floor. "And by the way," I said as she was trying to stand up, but I held her down with my shoe. "This _is _the wrong class."

I kicked her away and gathered up my books. Jake grabbed my shoulder and spun me around just as I was close to sweet escape.

"Look-" He stopped and looked at me. "Amanda?" I shook off his shoulder and bolted down the hallway in the other direction. "Wait, Amanda!" He chased after me. The bell was going to ring anytime soon. And if I wasn't out of those gates by then, then I'd have to stay here for the rest of the day. I heard his footsteps behind mine, and that only made me run faster.

Until I bumped into Josh.

"Oh, hey, Amanda." He said casually. "What's up?" I nearly shoved him out of the way.

"Look, um, Josh," I started, turning back to see if Jake had caught up yet before looking past his shoulder towards the exit. "I'm in a bit of a pinch here, so if you could stall my teacher from catching me, that'd be nice." He nodded.

"Alright, I'll see what I can do." We both went in the opposite direction.

I made it to the gates and ran out between them just as they were closing. Breathing a sigh of relief, I leaned against a wall and took a deep breath. Jake was here. And Charlie was my boyfriend. Some bitchy fangirl just kicked me in the back. I started walking again when the gates rattled behind me.

"Amanda, wait!" He said, wheezing. "Amanda, wait." He said calmer. I turned around to see him.

"Jake," I said, emotionlessly. "Nice to see you here."

"Look, I know what I did to you was wrong, but..."

"Wrong? How can it be wrong?" I asked, furious. "It was absolutely incorrect!" I screeched, shaking the gates. "I saved your life, and you don't thank me? Not even a call?" He furrowed his eyebrows.

"Well, says you!" He retorted. "You could've called me at anytime, but no." Jake's blue eyes glared at me through the iron. "You didn't." I steamed in anger. He took a deep breath. "Like I said before, I knew what I did was wrong, but..." He looked at me with puppy eyes. "Can we try to be friends?"

"Friends?" I asked, uncertain of the word. "Friends?" I looked at him. "How can we be friends when we've had a lot of complications?" His blue eyes glanced off to the side. "How can we be friends when my boyfriend hates you? How can we do that?" He didn't reply. "Tell me, Jake!" I was on the verge of breakdown. "Because, I don't know the answer! I don't know anything that I should!"

"Then figure it out!" He said, annoyed. "Amanda, I don't know where we went wrong, but I want...I want to figure that out." I backed away from the gate. "I just want to have a shot at friendship again."

"Goodbye, Jake." I said, starting to run away.

"Amanda!" He called, but I ignored him, again.

Maybe we've always gone wrong.


	5. Surging Tears

The trudge back home was worse than going to school in the first place.

I felt like someone had decided to play a prank on me and fill my shoes with lead and place a stone in my stomach. It was cold. I realized that I had left my jacket in that classroom and cursed myself. What was I supposed to do? That was my favorite one. I sighed and sat on a nearby bench, wrapping my arms around myself in an attempt to keep myself warm. I then placed my head on my knees and felt like I was about to start crying.

The burning sensation I always had bothered me. Highly. I bit my lip in an attempt to hold back the tears. Maybe I'd be able to make it home, and then just cry my eyes out. I took in a deep breath and stood up. Black spot danced around my vision, but soon faded as I started walking. What am I supposed to do now about Jake? I stopped and found myself at Charlie's front door.

And Charlie...what am I going to do about you?

I pulled out my set of keys and nearly dropped them in an attempt to get past the door. Even before opening it, I could hear the band start practicing their songs. Old and new. Charlie was in the middle of a guitar rift when I opened the door.

Everything just froze. I couldn't move. I was stuck.

"Amanda!" Charlie had placed his hands on my shoulders, his guitar was hanging on its strap. "What's wrong?" I couldn't do anything but hold on for dear life as I started crying. He was scared. He and I both. Charlie only held me close in a tight hug, rubbing circles on my back and patting my head. I hiccuped.

"J-Jake..." I said. "H-H-He w-was-" I coughed and sniffled. "H-He w-was t-there! A-And I...I didn't k-know what to do..." I hiccuped again. And I honestly didn't care if I was breaking down in front of all the guys. I didn't care if I was losing it in front of Charlie. Just so long as he was there for me.

"Here, let's go to the bedroom. You look awful." I nodded, though my legs were stiff. He hoisted me up and carried me to his room. I felt like a two-year old. He placed me on the bed and handed me a box of tissues. "So, what happened?"

"I-" I blew my nose into a tissue and used another to wipe my eyes. "I saw Jake there." I started. Something nice and easy.

"Okay, and then what?" I tossed the tissue into a garbadge can.

"T-Then I tried g-getting out of class." I felt the tears surging again.

"After that?" Charlie stroked my hair.

"T-That girl, she tripped me." I honestly wasn't sad about this though. "Then I-I..." The look. Dammit, why do I always fall for that?

"You what?" I knew that Charlie was trying his best to help me out, but retelling the tale was like trudging though a two-foot deep trench of mud and worms.

"I punched her." I blew my nose again. "T-Then I was almost out the door when Jake saw me." I leaned my head on his shoulder.

"So what did he do?"

"I tried getting out the front gates. Jake f-followed. Then, I asked this guy I met to help stall him." The tears had started flowing again, dripping onto my hand.

"So, what did 'this guy that you met' do to stall Jake?" Charlie hugged me close.

"I-I don't know. I haven't seen him since." I wiped some of the tears away, but they kept coming stubbornly. "And then...and then Jake caught up to me, but I was already outside the closed gates." I think that Charlie knew that this was where things got complicated, and he only held me tighter. "J-Jake asked if we could be friends again...and I-and I..." I couldn't try fighting the tears anymore.

"Amanda, tell me what did you do?"

"I-I said n-no." I cried. "And I feel so h-horrible for it!" Charlie comforted me as best as he could until I fell asleep in his arms. I remember as I was fading off to sleep, he kissed me on the forehead.

And then he said, "Love you."

I went to sleep with a smile on my face.


End file.
